Google Photos is a fantastic fashion to see your photos and the powerful search makes it easy to find pictures of certain people, places or times. Before 1 June 2021, Google did offer unlimited free storage for photos. Now, things accept inverse.

You lot merely get 15GB of Google storage in full, which counts files on your Google Drive and Gmail, besides equally Google Photos. Therefore, if you lot want to upload more photos and videos that will accept your limit by 15GB, you'll need to purchase more storage with Google One.

There's four tiers of storage currently on Google One. These are:

  • 15 GB - Complimentary
  • 100 GB - £1.59 per calendar month/£15.99 per yr
  • 200 GB - £2.49 per month/£24.99 per year
  • 2 TB - £7.99 per month/£79.99 per year

Sadly, no unlimited storage pick is currently available. You'll take to wait at other Cloud storage options if you want that. You can also make more room for photos and video past clearing out large files on your Google Drive.

There's no need to worry nigh existing files from before ane June, as these photos will remain on Google's servers and won't be deleted or blocked if you lot don't pay - that's a common misconception.

If, like me, you lot accept a photo library full of pictures yous took prior to owning a smartphone, chances are they're sat on a hard drive somewhere. Google hasn't fabricated it easy to upload them, but here's are two means to upload every single photo, one of which is automatic.

Upload to Google Photos via a web browser

Before I get to the all-time way, here'south the obvious style: head to photos.google.com and click on Upload.

How to upload to Google Photos from Windows

Unfortunately, the easy way won't work for most people because the Upload choice in Google Photos will simply upload the contents of a unmarried folder.

Most people keep their photos in multiple folders then they have 'albums' for different occasions. Unless you're willing to get through dozens or even hundreds of folders and re-create – or move – those photos into a single binder, you won't be able to use this option.

Y'all could laboriously use the Upload button for each binder y'all have just, again, that'due south impractical if you accept a hundred or more.

TIP: Before y'all upload all your photos, upload one or two and check that Google Photos can correctly place when they were taken. Otherwise, you lot'll take a tough time finding them once more.

In one case uploaded, you should be able to enter the date it was taken, such as '22 May 2000' and all photos from that date should exist shown. If non, search for the exact filename of the photo you but uploaded, and Google Photos should testify it. Click the i symbol at the top and y'all'll run into the info for that photo.

How to upload to Google Photos

If there is a trouble and the 'date taken' isn't identified correctly, you'll demand to use a tool to edit this metadata.

Once you've hitting the limit of what you lot can upload, Google will inform yous. If yous demand more than infinite, you can become a premium Google One account.

Upload to Google Photos via Backup & Sync

And so we come up to the best option for uploading your whole photo library to Google Photos. It involves downloading Google's Backup & Sync utility, choosing a folder or folders to sync, and then leaving it to upload the photos, also every bit any videos in those folders.

If those folders happen to be on a NAS bulldoze equally mine were, you lot may discover yous cannot select the root folder in Backup & Sync. The workaround is to create a folder within that (call it upload or whatever you like), then move all your folders of photos into that.

Here, step by footstep, is how to get virtually installing Backup & Sync and uploading all those snaps to Google Photos.

Note: this only works for Windows computers and you'd need to install the Google Photos app on Android or iPhone if you lot desire to upload the camera gyre from your phone. This guide is primarily aimed at those who've already done that and now want to upload photos stored on their Windows laptop or PC.

ane. Start, head to the Google Photos website https://photos.google.com/apps and click the Download push button.

How to upload to Google Photos

2. When the file is downloaded, click on it in your spider web browser, or navigate to the binder where downloaded files are stored – ordinarily Downloads. Double-click on the file (chosen installbackupandsync.exe) and click the Go STARTED button.

How to upload to Google Photos

3. You'll need to sign into your Google account, the one yous use for Google Photos.

4. On the 'set up-up' screen, choose Dorsum up photos and videos.

How to upload to Google Photos

v. Next, you need to tell Backup & Sync which folders your photos are in. This could be as simple as clicking the box next to Pictures, but if your photos are stored elsewhere, such as some other binder on your hard drive, on an external bulldoze or on a NAS drive, click Cull Binder and navigate to it.

How to upload to Google Photos

You tin can sync multiple folders, simply you tin't select multiple folders at the same time.

vi. Select the quality you desire for your photo/video - Storage Saver takes upwards less room, but compresses the file. Meanwhile Original Quality will not compress the files, simply volition take up more storage in your quota.

7. Click START and Backup & Sync will begin uploading photos and videos in the folder(s) y'all've called to Google Photos.

8. If y'all desire to bank check on progress, click the ^ symbol on the Windows Taskbar and click the little white cloud symbol. You'll see a scrolling list of the files being uploaded.

How to upload to Google Photos

How long it will accept to upload all your photos and videos will depend on the total amount of data to be uploaded and the upload speed of your cyberspace connection, which is typically a lot slower than the download speed.

Leave your laptop or computer on while it'south uploading the files. In my case, with a 16Mbps upload speed, information technology took around 24 hours to upload 30,000 photos and videos from hundreds of folders on a NAS drive.

Once more, the corporeality you'll be able to upload volition depend on the amount of storage you lot take in your Google One account.

Related articles for further reading

  • Best alternatives to Google Photos
  • What to do when Google Photos costless storage ends
  • How to download all your photos from Google Photos in ane become